What Happened to Blake Griffin As a Rebounder?

When Blake first came into the league, fresh off of a devastating knee injury, we were all weary of how he would turn out. From the opening possessions, he silenced all of the doubts in the mind of every Clippers fan. Showing shades of his sophomore season at Oklahoma (where he averaged a vacuum like 14.4 rpg to go along with nearly 23 ppg), Griffin took the NBA by storm averaging 22.5 ppg and an impressive 12.1 rpg in his official rookie season. Quite simply, Blake appeared to be a man among boys, getting to loose balls quicker than anyone else could, jumping over people for rebounds, hell it may be revisionist history, but it seemed like he was in better position to grab those boards as well.

The following year, in a lockout shortened season, Blakes numbers dipped a bit. While disappointing this could easily be attributed to the torrid pace of games played. The following year, Blake's numbers dipped even further. Some defended Blake, crediting his declining numbers to his decline in minutes. These same people pointed to improvements in other areas, notably his playmaking ability and his outside shooting, as signs for optimism. These fans are absolutely correct. There is much to be optimistic for in Blake Griffin's future. He's a highly skilled individual, working to improve his game at every possible moment. His outside shot, although far from perfect, is much improved. Already quite impressive, his court vision seems much improved. Blake Griffin, it seems, is destined for superstardom, to be a member of the NBA elite. However, the looming question remains: what happened to the Blake Griffin who soared into the hearts of America with his spectacular motor? What happened to the Blake Griffin who fought for extra possessions cleaning up the glass and flying passed his peers on the hunt for loose balls? Given the team's bleak outlook on the rebounding front, one can only hope that these two embodiments of Blake Griffin can find a way to coexist soon.

Grillinnap

10/30/2013 - 10:15 AM PST

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I, too, wonder if he'll ever be a 20 and 10 guy again.

ClipThemOff

10/30/2013 - 10:36 AM PST

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TRADE HIM. Stop liking him after his 2nd year.

Griffin plays like he isn't really a basketball player and Dudley is probably past his prime now.

Everyone else is okay but money should go to better forwards.

Voyeur

10/30/2013 - 10:56 AM PST

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Your absurd ClipThemOff. How easy it is to forget the good Blake has done. Even last year when CP3 went down to injury, who stepped up? It was Blake. He picked up his overall production and his assists. During the winning streak he won Western Conference Player of the Week for the first time. After the All Star break Blake was the only dude who showed up while everyone else was on some mental vacation. He's our 3 time All Star and rightfully made 2nd team All NBA. So you people who are already crying to trade Blake after the first game of the season should go kick rocks!

His rebounding is down because we have him all over the place on defense. Defending pick n rolls and sometimes at the perimeter out of position for defensive rebounds. Things he wasn't really concentrating on as a rookie. Also as a rookie he was inside all the time, which means better position for offensive rebounds, especially his own misses. He's going to have far fewer offensive rebounds if he's taking more jumpers. Knowing Doc would rather have us get back on defense than grab offensive rebounds means even fewer for Blake this year.

Still, Blake needs to get back to hustling again and dominating the glass at every opportunity he gets.

xldicelx

10/30/2013 - 11:05 AM PST

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funniest thing i heard this morning

Silasie

10/30/2013 - 11:18 AM PST

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And we certainly need something to laugh about today!

cleepers

10/30/2013 - 11:22 AM PST

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Yeah... and fire the coach... burn it all down!

jarca

10/30/2013 - 11:23 AM PST

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Blake just needs to be a hard nose blue collar guy like the first year. Not this spoiled cuddled star

Agent0

10/30/2013 - 11:58 AM PST

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He is the on the offensive glass as much and he's been trying to put more effort into defense than solely going for rebounds. Maybe he can't d both, just have to determine which benefits the team more...

ekker3

10/30/2013 - 12:09 PM PST

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right now, blake is an all-star reserve type player. dude is a phenomenal player - can create his own shot under the basket with ease, one of the league's premier passers, and is STILL a great rebounder. he struggles with his 10-15 footer, defense, free throws, and creating his shot outside of the paint.

but the biggest reason he'll forever be a clipper? dude sells tickets.

ArmoClipFan

10/30/2013 - 12:24 PM PST

Posts: 189

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Blake in his rookie year was a beast. Way different player then now. He's a whip now wheather you want to admit it or not. He doesn't even want to score anymore, he's always looking to create, he's trying to be more pau then malone. Like I said in the beginning of the year.. We only go as far as Blake can take us. It's all on him. Everybody has shown up this season besides him and Dudley.

DocHollywood

10/30/2013 - 12:34 PM PST

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He's just running the system Doc wants him to: more outside shooting which lowers his rebounding, and more facilitating and passing from the high post. I'm still not in love with this system yet, but blame Doc, not Blake if you don't like it.

ClipsGForce

10/30/2013 - 12:36 PM PST

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It's just so many people tell him to do so many different thing that it just mess with Blake head. I rather have him as a Karl Malone type who abuse defenders down low. This is the Blake I would love back in rookie season.

austin009009

10/30/2013 - 12:44 PM PST

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Its not like we have problem with rebounding. Both Deandre and Blake combine for almost 20 boards a game. Rebounding isn't an issue. If you want to worry about individual statistics.....go ahead. Its about winning and team defense now. Completely different than Blakes rookie season.

comeONcraig

10/30/2013 - 12:49 PM PST

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i do miss blake's defensive intensity from the first half of last season. hopefully, he and the rest of the team buff up on D.

23efren23

10/30/2013 - 01:04 PM PST

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in the off season if we don't win a ring look for clippers to trade blake with dudley or redick and or crawford for kevin love or lebron or kg and pierce or some other cobination of a good power forward

CapsNClips

10/30/2013 - 01:19 PM PST

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Good idea, let's trade Griffin and another good player for Kevin Love who's not happy in Minnesota and is overrated.

Kevin Love is a worse defender, less efficient scorer, worse passer, more injury prone, never played a single playoff game, has zero chemistry with any teammate he's ever had, is basically a SG on offense,...but he can rebound. So obviously we should do this trade cause rebounds look cool on paper.

This is the most ridiculous thing I've read in a long time, and that's before you even mentioned LBJ, KG and Pierce.

clipnasty

10/30/2013 - 01:48 PM PST

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There were WAY too many offensive rebounds last night. However, most of them were long rebounds (off of long jump shots), which is more the guard's fault.

Keatonsays

10/30/2013 - 01:50 PM PST

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He just doesn't have the same sense of urgency that he had in his first season. His rookie year, he had something to prove, and he fought tooth and nail to prove whatever that was. He was successful in his efforts, but seemingly, proving doubters wrong once was enough for him. I guess he doesn't realize, or didn't realize that the doubters will always be there, and to be great, you'll have to consistently prove them wrong time and time again.

If Blake doesn't get back into the mentality of going after every rebound, then he'll remain the above average player that he is right now. Not a star and definitely not a superstar, just a really good guy...

We can definitely win with Blake going back to his old form in his rookie year. If we can only win with Blake's diminishing numbers, then he's just not the superstar we expected him to be.

tense2

10/30/2013 - 02:29 PM PST

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He needs to be back down in the trenches. Rebounding like 1st year would be a tremendous impact to this years team.

ClipperPostman

10/30/2013 - 02:35 PM PST

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After reading many posts on this site it's evident most who post know absolutely nothing about basketball.

Yesterday was a good game overall for the clippers.

It's just 1 game and you already talking about trading one of the best PF in the league??

The reason he only has 7 rebounds is because is was guarding Pau in the first

half then Shawne williams in the second.

Both of these guys play 15 ft + away from the basket. Shawne williams was shooting

3's as a PF. So obviously Blake would not be in the paint to grab the boards.

But again you have to know something about basketball to understand this.

He still put up 19-7 good numbers for opening.

This is suppose to be a fan site, but I see more negative things than I do

positive about our players. I wonder are many of you true clippers fans??

Voyeur

10/30/2013 - 02:48 PM PST

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The only way we see Rookie Blake is if we go to some form of man-to-man defense, where BG basically stays with his man, but with an eye on the rebound. Barkley style.

Grillinnap

10/30/2013 - 03:08 PM PST

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That's possible if:

a) DJ can sustain his improvements as the defensive anchor

b) we get better defensive efforts from the SF position. My patience with Dudley is very short.

tense2

10/30/2013 - 03:42 PM PST

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Thank you for your insight Professor...now how do you explain his downward rebounding trend since his rookie year.

Voyeur

10/30/2013 - 03:51 PM PST

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Overall our offense did look pretty darn good as a team in the first half. Helps that JJ was on fire during that stretch. I've been bringing up Blake's offensive changes, but in truth I think our offense will be no problem. Especially when Redick and Dudley settle in. As good as JJ has looked, he's going to be better. Dudley BETTER improve. lol

Defensively, we looked awful at times. I think that happens when we try something new. Remember how we looked the first 2 preseason games? Our D looked amazing. We can get there again. Just gotta stay focused. I gotta remember to stay positive.

Agent0

10/30/2013 - 03:57 PM PST

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austin009, rebounding is a problem isn't it? It's not about how many rebounds they combine for, it's about which one a they are giving up

Love being less efficient than Blake as a scorer isn't true unless you are basing it off last season, but that's obviously not intellectually honest. Dirk is also a SG on offense though, and look how that worked out . If you're effective, you're effective.

Now I don't agree with trading Blake, if he was solely focused on grabbing rebounds, he would get more, but he's trying to expand his game. Still, that doesn't mean Love's game should be spoken of like he's bad.

If Love was on LAC and Blake on Minny, Love would have made the playoffs and Blake wouldn't. Does that make him better? Not really...

In the pre-season, Blake averaged like 20/7/3-4 per 36, at least through 5 games. Really his scoring isn't a problem at all. He put up 19 yesterday and would have had 22-23 if he didn't decide to shoot FT's like DJ last night.

His problem is rebounding right now, and he's still needs some defensive improvement. Sometimes it actually is hard for players to focus on both defending at a high level and rebounding at a high level, Blake needs to get that focus.

CP3Heliflopter

10/30/2013 - 04:23 PM PST

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He is having a difficult time playing defense and boxing out/going for boards at the same time. He is also playing more away from the basket. Unfortunately, he isn't doing particularly well on the boards or defensively....

ClipperPostman

10/30/2013 - 04:29 PM PST

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Easy it's called playing LESS MINUTES.

Last year he played 6 less minutes per game than his rookie season.

I'm sure he could easily grab 2-4 more boards per game in 6 minutes.

Easy to point out his "Downward rebounding", but you have to also

point out his downward minutes trend. They go hand in hand.

Anything else you would like to know?

tense2

10/30/2013 - 04:44 PM PST

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Oh really....Look at his PER 36 minutes Professor and get back to me.

Clipswhit

10/30/2013 - 04:47 PM PST

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Guys look the truest clippers fan has arrived! Man I gotta say we're lucky to have you grace us with your wisdom. I forgot that Blake was guarding Shawne freaking Williams, what a tough defensive cover that was! Sure glad that you're here to tell me that crashing boards from 12' away is an impossible task!

As for the trade talk, their views clearly don't align with the majority of the board. We're here discussing a trend that has been ongoing since Blake's rookie year, but you're a bit late to the bandwagon, you probably wouldn't know about that would you?

Akclipps

10/30/2013 - 04:51 PM PST

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i don't know why but when willie green doesn't play we lose. lol

toohipcliptoslip

10/30/2013 - 05:19 PM PST

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We saw a Blake that was a one man wrecking crew season one. We haven't seen that since. People laugh at "lob City" but it showed a "We will punk you" attitude. Blake posterizing Pau should always be on Pau's mind and anyone else who gets in Blake's way. If we don't get King Kong back his value is much less.

If we don't get an interior presence we will die. We all think and hope he will revert to old form but if he doesn't we should consider other options.

ClipperSpirit4Life

10/30/2013 - 05:30 PM PST

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Blake needs to get away from the notion that he has to develop a jump shot. He needs to get back to his roots and dominate in the paint. If you look back at Blake's first season he was a freight train with a motor that never let up. He is the greatest physical specimen in league when it comes down to power forwards and the Clippers have to make use of that. Its been three full years now and it doesn't look like Blake is ever going to get his jump shot to where we all want it to be (not to say that he hasn't improved because we all know he has). People are slamming the expectation on Blake that he has to be a complete player--he doesn't. His role in this team has to be punishing opposing teams' interior defenses. Really hope last night got Blake angry enough that we see him bring back the fire that existed in his ego before CP3 showed up. In my opinion Blake is THE leader of this team and he has to set the example for the kind of passion the Clippers need to treat every single game with. Maybe watching some tape from his first year with the team and reminiscing over how the team's culture was when he first got here will inspire him. In all honesty and I think he would agree to this, nothing has changed since he first showed up. The Clippers are still an underdog in this league and this city till they bring home a championship banner. The most devastating thing to me about last night was that the Clippers showed none of that energy that they've been generating since Blake arrived. With all of these new faces and expectations they've forgotten where this team comes from. Clipper Nation has gone through a lot to get where it is right now. The Clippers can't forget how much effort and support it took to get them where they are today. This is why last night I felt let down as a fan. Clippers fans go through the most scrutiny out of any other professional sports fan base in the world. The Clips can't lose another game because they were out hussled. This team's culture has absolutely no room for that. The Clippers are in no position to expect that anything is going to be given to them.

Voyeur

10/30/2013 - 05:54 PM PST

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Despite the fact he shot his FT's poorly, I do like the fact he went to the line 10 times last night. That sorta has gotten lost in all this.

clipper*grl*76

10/30/2013 - 06:00 PM PST

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TRADE BLAKE? why? because he hasn't rebound as much as he should.. if that is the case, heck D Jordan should have been GONE!

it is TOO DOG ON EARLY IN THE SEASON TO TALK ABOUT TRADING anyone but DUDLEY! and HOLLINS! other than those two... this team has as new coach, new rotations and who knows what mentally Doc is doing to them.. just let them play, find their groove and we will be FINE.

Trade BLAKE are you serious!

I will agree though, we do need a back up for D Jordan.. hopefully it will be found in Bullock.

and yes our DEFENSE MUST improve..to much standing around watching the ball..

Voyeur

10/30/2013 - 06:24 PM PST

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Didn't you get the memo? We are supposed to ignore all the awesome games Blake has had his 3 years in the league because DJ has put up good numbers opening up the season.

Clipswhit

10/30/2013 - 06:39 PM PST

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Bullock as DJs backup? What?

REDUCE523

10/30/2013 - 06:45 PM PST

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I think DOC is going to make Blake better. Make stronger get on him. That is what we got Doc for to hold the team accountable.

CP3Heliflopter

10/30/2013 - 06:54 PM PST

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That isn't really the problem. The problem is that BG's rebounding has been declining for the past three seasons. It declined sharply in year 3.

Blake's second season was probably his best. The only thing he did poorly that year was shoot Ft's though his defense and jump shot wasn't quite up to par yet either.

Its too early though to complain since he has only played one game but another 18/8 season with mediocre defense season would be disappointing. He did play fewer minutes last season of course but his per 36 rebounding numbers took a huge dip from his rookie season and it can't all be attributed to playing more away from the basket and putting more effort on D.

tense2

10/30/2013 - 06:54 PM PST

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Actually, Both Blake and DJ are above average rebounders for their respective positions the last few years. Blake just has been trending downwards in that department the last couple years that's all.

Voyeur

10/30/2013 - 07:08 PM PST

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True. My sarcasm was in response to the whole "trade Blake" idea.

toohipcliptoslip

10/30/2013 - 07:39 PM PST

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Blake has to develop a jump shot and shoot 70% FT if he is going to be a superstar. If he does he can do the triple threat thing because he can beat most bigs off the dribble and his ball handling skills aren't bad for a big guy. He will demand a double team. He's a good passer and we have shooters

If he does not for whatever reason revert to being a beast inside then his usefulness will be markedly less. We will have a guy who's a 60%ish FT shooter with a below average jump shot and a just OK defender.

All options should be on the table including trading Blake if he's not what will win a ring. If we need to trade Paul and start Collison to win (hyperbole) do it. I'm not saying that we should consider trading him now. I'm saying we aren't married to him.

As far as ignoring what he did in the last two years should we? Yes.

Used to do and am doing are different. The point is that he is not playing to the level we'd like right now. The open question is will he be able to meet our expectations ever. Will he be able to be what we want now (meaning in a few months)? That question will be answered on the hardwood. Again he's not our family, he's a piece in a chess game.

tense2

10/30/2013 - 07:43 PM PST

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You don't trade your only true superstar/top 3 player in his prime....and I'm not talking about Blake.

Voyeur

10/30/2013 - 07:47 PM PST

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Yeah I think it's throwing the idea out there after one game that's got some of us rolling our eyes. Not the idea that it couldn't happen one day.

But just an FYI. 2 years ago BG led the league in points in the paint and had no reliable jumper (also shot 50% free throws) and he also happen to lead the league in raw +/- for his team. So the impact will still be there even if Blake is a purely low post guy. I'm starting to think that's where he belongs.

toohipcliptoslip

10/30/2013 - 07:47 PM PST

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I gave the example of trading Paul as hyperbole to make a point. Not as a wish but anything can happen

tense2

10/30/2013 - 09:07 PM PST

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I grok what you're saying.

MartyKahn

10/30/2013 - 09:24 PM PST

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Blake for KLove will eventually happen. Love's gm is made for cp3.

Blake seems to have peaked. He just will never be a top 10 player. Each yr his numbers go down.

Doesn't even look to be aggressive in the 4th qtr of gms

Clippersfan86

10/30/2013 - 09:30 PM PST

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Blake is my biggest worry right now and it's not based on the one game. It's based on his body language. He doesn't have that hunger to dominate and kill people that I saw his rookie year and that ALL NBA superstars have. He looks like a guy completely content to defer to everybody and be a 5th option with no pressure. I hope Doc can change that mentality quickly.